Valkyrie

Valkyrie is a 2008 American historical thriller film set in Nazi Germany during World War II. The film depicts the 20 July plot in 1944 by German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler and to use the Operation Valkyrie national emergency plan to take control of the country. Valkyrie was directed by Bryan Singer for the American studio United Artists, and the film stars Tom Cruise as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, one of the key plotters. The cast included Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Eddie Izzard, Terence Stamp and Tom Wilkinson.

Cruise's casting caused controversy among German politicians and members of the von Stauffenberg family due to the actor's practice of Scientology, which is viewed with suspicion in Germany. Because of this, the film makers initially had difficulty setting up filming locations in Germany, but they were later given access to film in locations pertaining to the film's story, such as Berlin's historic Bendlerblock. German newspapers and filmmakers supported the film and its attempt to spread global awareness of von Stauffenberg's plot.

The film changed release dates several times, from as early as June 27, 2008 to as late as February 14, 2009. The changing calendar and poor response to United Artists' initial marketing campaign drew criticism about the studio's viability. After a positive test screening, Valkyrie's release in North America was ultimately changed to December 25, 2008. United Artists renewed its marketing campaign to reduce its focus on Cruise and to highlight Singer's credentials. The film received mixed reviews in the United States. It opened commercially in Germany on January 22, 2009, where reports were mixed about the German reception of the film.

During World War II, Wehrmacht Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Cruise) is severely wounded during an RAF air raid in Tunisia, and is evacuated home to Nazi Germany. Meanwhile, Major General Henning von Tresckow (Branagh) attempts to assassinate Adolf Hitler by smuggling a bomb aboard the Führer's personal airplane. The bomb, however, fails to detonate and Tresckow safely retrieves it to conceal his intentions. After learning that the Gestapo has arrested Major General Hans Oster, he orders General Olbricht (Nighy) to find a replacement. After recruiting von Stauffenberg into the German Resistance, Olbricht presents von Stauffenberg at a meeting of the secret committee which has coordinated previous attempts on Hitler's life. The members include General Ludwig Beck (Stamp), Dr. Carl Goerdeler (McNally), and Erwin von Witzleben (Schofield). Stauffenberg is stunned to learn that no plans exist subsequent to Hitler's assassination.

During a bombing raid on Berlin, he gets the idea of using Operation Valkyrie, which involves the deployment of the Reserve Army to maintain order in the event of a national emergency. The plotters carefully redraft the plan's orders so that they can dismantle the Nazi regime after assassinating Hitler. Realizing that only General Fromm (Wilkinson), the head of the Reserve Army, can initiate Valkyrie, they offer him a position as head of the Wehrmacht in a post-Nazi Germany and request his support, but Fromm declines to be directly involved. With the rewritten Operation Valkyrie orders needing to be signed by Hitler (Bamber), von Stauffenberg visits the Führer at his Berghof estate in Bavaria. In the presence of Dr. Joseph Goebbels, Wilhelm Keitel, Heinrich Himmler, Hermann Göring and Albert Speer, his inner circle, Hitler praises von Stauffenberg's heroism in North Africa and signs the orders without fully examining the modifications.

At Goerdeler's insistence, von Stauffenberg is ordered to assassinate both Hitler and SS head Himmler at the Führer's command bunker, Wolf's Lair. At a final briefing, Colonel Mertz von Quirnheim (Berkel) instructs the committee members in the use of pencil detonators. Von Stauffenberg also persuades General Fellgiebel (Izzard), who controls all communications at Wolf's Lair, to cut off communications after the bomb blast. On July 15, 1944, von Stauffenberg attends a strategy meeting at Wolf's Lair with the bomb in his briefcase, but with Himmler not present at the meeting, von Stauffenberg does not get the go-ahead from the committee leaders until the meeting is over. Meanwhile, the Reserve Army is mobilized by Olbricht, unbeknownst to Fromm, to stand by. With no action taken, von Stauffenberg safely extracts himself and the bomb from the bunker, and the Reserve Army is ordered to stand down, believing that the mobilization was training. Back in Berlin, von Stauffenberg goes to the committee to protest their indecisiveness and condemns Goerdeler, who has been selected to be chancellor after the coup. When Goerdeler demands that von Stauffenberg be relieved, Beck informs him that the SS is searching for him and implores him to leave the country immediately.

On July 20, 1944, von Stauffenberg and his adjutant Lieutenant Haeften (Parker) return to Wolf's Lair. To von Stauffenberg's dismay, he discovers that the conference is being held in an open-window summer barrack, whereas the plotters had intended to detonate the bomb within the walls of the bunker for maximum damage. While his adjuntant waits with the car, von Stauffenberg places the briefcase with the bomb armed at the meeting as close to Hitler as possible. Von Stauffenberg then leaves the barrack, returning to the car. When the bomb explodes, von Stauffenberg is certain that Hitler is dead and flees Wolf's Lair. Before shutting down communications, Fellgiebel calls Mertz about the explosion but cannot clearly convey whether or not the Führer is dead.

As von Stauffenberg flies back to Berlin, Olbricht refuses to mobilize the Reserve Army until he knows without a doubt that Hitler is dead. Behind Olbricht's back, Mertz forges his signature and issues the orders anyway. With Operation Valkyrie underway, von Stauffenberg and his fellow plotters order the arrest of Nazi party leaders and SS officers, convincing lower officers that the Party and the SS are staging a coup. As Von Stauffenberg begins to take control of Berlin's government ministries, mid-level officers relaying the orders begin to wonder which side they should be fighting for. Rumors reach Berlin that Hitler survived the blast, but von Stauffenberg dismisses them as SS propaganda. Meanwhile, Fromm learns from Field Marshal Keitel that Hitler is still alive. The General refuses to join the plotters, resulting in them detaining him. Major Otto Ernst Remer of the Reserve Army prepares to arrest Goebbels but is stopped when Goebbels connects him by phone to Hitler. Immediately recognizing the voice on the other end, Remer realizes that the Reserve Army has been duped - rather than containing a coup, they have unwittingly supported it. SS officers are released and the plotters in turn are besieged inside the Bendlerblock. The headquarters staff flees, but the resistance leaders are arrested. In an ultimately vain effort to save himself, General Fromm convenes an impromptu court martial and sentences the conspirators to death, contravening Hitler's orders that they be kept alive. Given a pistol by Fromm, Beck commits suicide. That night, the ringleaders are then executed by firing squad one by one. When his turn arrives, Colonel Stauffenberg's final cry is "Long live sacred Germany!"

A brief epilogue informs that the conspiracy of July 20, 1944 was the last of 15 known assassination attempts on Hitler by Germans. It also mentions Hitler's suicide nine months later and that Countess Nina von Stauffenberg and her children survived the war. The dedication at the Memorial to the German Resistance is then superimposed:

Yes Man

Yes Man is a 2008 comedy film directed by Peyton Reed, written by Nicholas Stoller, Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel and starring Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel, Bradley Cooper, John Michael Higgins, Rhys Darby, Danny Masterson and Terence Stamp. The film is based loosely on the true story and 2005 book Yes Man by British humourist Danny Wallace (who has a cameo appearance in the film).

The film was a box office success despite receiving mixed reviews from critics. It was released on December 19, 2008, opening at #1 at the box office in its first weekend with $18.3 million and was then released on December 26, 2008 in the United Kingdom going straight to the top of the box office in its first weekend after release. Production for the film began in October 2007 in Los Angeles, CA.

Los Angeles bank employee Carl Allen (Jim Carrey) has become withdrawn and preoccupied with his personal life since his divorce from ex-wife Stephanie (Molly Sims). Routinely ignoring his friends Pete (Bradley Cooper) and Rooney (Danny Masterson) for hangouts at their local bar where Stephanie regularly visits, he has grown used to spending his spare time watching DVDs alone in his apartment, and has an increasingly negative outlook on life. One day, Nick (John Michael Higgins), an old colleague of Carl's suggests that he goes to a "Yes!" seminar with him, which encourages its attendants to seize the opportunity to say "Yes!". Carl considers the option while watching a film that night, but subsequently misses Pete's engagement party at the bar. An irate Pete turns up at his house and berates him, telling him that he will end up completely lonely if he does not change his life around. Carl decides to attend the seminar and he meets inspirational guru Terrence Bundley (Terence Stamp), who publicly browbeats him into making a covenant with himself. Carl reluctantly promise to stop being a "No Man" and vows to answer "Yes!" to every opportunity, request or invitation that presents itself thereafter.

After the seminar, saying "yes" to a homeless man's requests only leaves Carl stranded in Elysian Park, with his phone battery dead, no cash, and his gas tank empty. Disillusioned, he hikes to a gas station where he meets Allison (Zooey Deschanel), an unorthodox young woman who rides a scooter. She gives him a hair-raising ride back to his car, and kisses him before she rides off. After this positive experience, Carl feels more optimistic about saying yes. However, he refuses oral sex from his elderly neighbor Tillie (Fionulla Flanagan), which results in almost getting attacked by a dog. Seeing the repercussions of saying no, he goes back to Tillie. While initially disgusted with the thought, Carl is ultimately pleasured by Tillie and thoroughly enjoys his time spent with her.

Carl starts to seize every opportunity that comes his way. He renews his friendship with Pete and Rooney, builds up a major friendship with his boss, Norman (Rhys Darby), assists Pete's fiancée, Lucy (Sasha Alexander), by throwing her a bridal shower after Pete asks him to, buys himself a mattress, invites in two members of the Latter Day Saint movement, takes flying lessons, attends Korean language classes, learns to play the guitar, takes part in charitable work, and even joins a Persian dating website called persianwifefinder.com. Saying "yes" constantly works to Carl's advantage. He earns a corporate promotion at work after his many approved loans open new territory for the bank in the area of microcredit. Making use of his guitar lessons, he plays Third Eye Blind's song Jumper to persuade a man not to commit suicide by jumping off a ledge. Accepting concert tickets from a promoter, he sees an idiosyncratic band called Munchausen by Proxy whose lead singer turns out to be Allison. He is charmed by her quirkiness; she is charmed by his spontaneity; and the two begin dating.

As their relationship blossoms, Carl and Allison meet at the airport for a spontaneous weekend excursion. Having decided to take the first plane out of town, regardless of its destination, they end up in Lincoln, Nebraska, where they explore the Frank H. Woods Telephone Museum, go skeet shooting, and attend a University of Nebraska-Lincoln football game. As they take shelter from the rain in an isolated barn, Allison asks Carl to move in with her. He hesitantly agrees. But while checking in for the return flight, Carl and Allison are detained by FBI agents, who have profiled him as potential terrorist, because he has taken flying lessons, studied Korean, approved a loan to a fertilizer company, met an Iranian, and bought plane tickets at the last minute to what they deem to be an unlikely holiday destination.

Pete, his attorney, travels to Nebraska to explain Carl's odd habits, lessons, and decisions. As she finds out about Carl's motivational covenant, Allison begins to doubt whether his commitment to her was ever sincere. Deciding that she can no longer trust a man who is obliged always to respond in the affirmative, regardless of his true feelings, Allison leaves Carl at the airport and refuses to return his phone calls.

Carl's life takes a turn for the worse and he is unable to feel happy even after passing his flying test. His only distraction comes in a negative way, when he is tasked by his new boss with informing Norm that he is among the layoffs in a shutdown of branches, and when he almost forgets about Lucy's shower. Carl just manages to arrange a major surprise shower at their favourite bar after pretending to them that he had forgotten it, all the while setting Norm up with Soo-Mi (Vivian Bang), the Korean girl who supervised the wedding store, and Rooney with Tillie. He then agrees to come to dinner with Pete because he wants to. After the party, Carl receives a tearful phone call from Stephanie, whose new boyfriend Ted has walked out on her. When Carl goes to Stephanie's apartment to comfort her, she kisses him passionately and asks whether they can get back together. After Carl emphatically says "no," his luck takes a turn for the worse. The elevator in which he tries to leave Stephanie's building malfunctions in between floors, a black cat crosses his path, causing him to jump onto a car and set off its alarm, and his own car gets clamped and towed. To his horror, the tow-man, who closely resembles him, turns around declaring "No man, no man, no man!" (in response to his "can't you give me a break?"), and he decides to end his commitment to the covenant.

Carl goes to the convention center where the "Yes!" seminar is held, and hides in the backseat of Bundley's convertible so that he can beg to be released from the covenant. Carl emerges as Bundley drives off, and the startled Bundley collides with an oncoming vehicle. The two are taken to a hospital, injured slightly. After Carl recovers consciousness, an already conscious Bundley tells Carl that there was no "covenant." The starting point was merely to open Carl's mind to other possibilities, not to permanently take away his ability to say "no" if he needed to.

Freed from this restraint, Carl finds Allison and admits that he does not want to move in with her just yet, but tells her that he genuinely loves and wants her—and has not been with her just because he has been compelled to say "yes". The couple kiss while Allison's fellow runners snap pictures.

At the end of the movie, Carl and Allison are seen donating a truckload of clothes to a local homeless shelter. Cutting to the scene of the "Yes!" seminar, Bundley is seen walking onstage to several hundred naked audience members. It is implied that the participants have said "Yes!" to donating their clothes to charity.